Skip to main content

What project is more important? Charlotte planning organization to debate ranking of three projects

Image
By
  1. Widening/Upgrading Independence Blvd. (US 74) to an Expressway
  2. Building the Monroe Bypass (US 74)
  3. Completing the Interstate 485 Outer Loop
How would you rank in importance and need of these three Charlotte Transportation Projects?

That's the current ranking of the Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan Planning Organization, but that could change. They are meeting today to debate on shifting the priorities for the region's transportation needs.

And there's a little bit of political pressure too:

Governor Perdue has promised (during her election campaign) that construction on I-485 would begin this year, and it would be finished by 2013. But Transportation Officials admit that they don't have the funding to start now or even in the next few years.

To fulfill this promise, funding for other projects would have to be delayed in order to complete the highway. That could put projects like the widening and upgrade of Independence Blvd. way back on the "To Do List".

And in order to smooth the path in getting funding arranged - a green light by a shift of priorities by an organization like MUMPO - can help set the stage for it. If the local planning organization sees, the completion of I-485 as the top priority for the region, DOT officials can point to that to move money from other projects to the top of the list.

Though I would like Interstate 485 completed somewhat in my lifetime, I agree with the current MUMPO ranking and that improving and upgrading Independence Blvd. is and should remain the top choice.

Over the past 15 years, Independence Blvd. has been upgraded with interchanges at major intersections and better control of access to the various commercial/retail buildings and minor side streets. It has seen the elimination of numerous traffic lights allowing for quicker access to Uptown Charlotte from the eastern suburbs. So far the project has been completed from the Belk Freeway (I-277) to Albemarle Road (NC 27). The next phase of the project, which is staged to go all the way out to I-485, is to extend the expressway to Idlewild Road. This 1.4 mile extension is expected to begin in 2012. (You can see the plans for this segment here.)

The cost of this 1.4 mile upgrade is about $150 million - or just under 3/4ths the cost to finish I-485.

Story Link w/video:
Other projects to pay to fulfill Purdue's I-485 promise ---News14Carolina

Either way, its a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, what do you think?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I-40 rockslide uncovers old debates on highway

By
The Asheville Citizen-Times continues to do a great job covering all the angles of the Interstate 40 Haywood County rock slide. An article in Sunday's edition provides a strong historical perspective on how the Pigeon River routing of Interstate 40 came about. And perhaps most strikingly, in an article that ran just prior to the highway's opening in the fall of 1968, how engineers from both Tennessee and North Carolina warned "...that slides would probably be a major problem along the route for many years." On February 12, 1969, not long after the Interstate opened, the first rock slide that would close I-40 occurred. Like many other Interstates within North Carolina, Interstate 40 through the mountains has a history prior to formation of the Interstate Highway System and was also a heated political battle between local communities. The discussion for a road that would eventually become Interstate 40 dates back to the 1940's as the idea for interregional high
2 comments
Read more

Former California State Route 41 past Bates Station

By
When California State Route 41 was commissioned during August 1934 it was aligned along the then existing Fresno-Yosemite Road north of the San Joaquin River.  Within the Sierra Nevada foothills of Madera County, the original highway alignment ran past Bates Station via what is now Madera County Road 209, part of eastern Road 406 and Road 207.   Bates Station was a stage station plotted during the early 1880s at what was the intersection of the Coarsegold Road and Stockton-Los Angeles Road.   The modern alignment bypassing Bates Station to the east would be reopened to traffic during late 1939.   Part 1; the history of California State Route 41 past Bates Station Bates Station was featured as one of the many 1875-1899 Madera County era towns in the May 21, 1968, Madera Tribune .  Post Office Service at Bates Station is noted to have been established on November 23, 1883 and ran continuously until October 31, 1903.  The postal name was sourced from Bates Station owner/operator George Ba
Post a Comment
Read more

Interstate 210 the Foothill Freeway

By
The combined Interstate 210/California State Route 210 corridor of the Foothill Freeway is approximately 85.31-miles.  The Interstate 210/California State Route 210 corridor begins at Interstate 5 at the northern outskirts of Los Angeles and travels east to Interstate 10 in Redlands of San Bernardino County.  Interstate 210 is presently signed on the 44.9-mile segment of the Foothill Freeway between Interstate 5 and California State Route 57.  California State Route 210 makes up the remaining 40.41 miles of the Foothill Freeway east to Interstate 10.  Interstate 210 is still classified by the Federal Highway Administration as existing on what is now signed as California State Route 57 from San Dimas south to Interstate 10.  The focus of this blog will mostly be on the history of Interstate 210 segment of the Foothill Freeway.   Part 1; the history of Interstate 210 and California State Route 210 Interstate 210 (I-210) was approved as a chargeable Interstate during September of
Post a Comment
Read more